The Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) recently announced code of conduct for elections is not legally binding on political parties as it has got no parliamentary approval for implementation.
Legal experts and former officials of the Commission say that nobody has ever been punished for violating the code of conduct due to lacunae in the legal system and implementation capacity of the ECP.
Kanwar Dilshad, former secretary ECP, told Business Recorder on Tuesday that the code of conduct has become 'controversial' as head of one of the major political parties of the country has raised many valid objections.
"It seems as if the ECP and the PTI are heading towards a confrontation over the code of conduct," he said suggesting the ECP to review its decision of implementing the controversial code of conduct.
He said the code of conduct has neither any legal position nor support of parliament; therefore it should be reconsidered by taking all political parties on board. "Code of conduct must be a voluntary act agreed by all political parties. The ECP cannot enforce any code of conduct by force," he said.
Dilshad also suggested the ECP to bring the matter of code of conduct to the parliamentary electoral reforms committee where a unanimous code of conduct could be agreed by all parties.
"The parliament should also give legal protection to the ECP's code of conduct; otherwise it would just be a piece of paper and no political party would conform to it," he said.
In the new code of conduct, the ECP has barred all parliamentarians from holding any public rally in support of their respective candidates in the elections. The by-elections on two important seats, NA-122 and NA-154, are scheduled to be held on October 11.
The PTI has moved Lahore High Court, pleading that the ECP cannot bar head of a political party from campaigning for his candidate in the elections.
Babar Sattar, an eminent Supreme Court lawyer, told Business Recorder, that the ECP has got broad powers under the constitution to exercise its authority but "it should exercise judgement and discretion while exercising its powers."
Under the Representation of the People Act, the ECP can move against a candidate on violation of the code of conduct but it is a difficult and complex process to prove someone guilty of the breach, he said.
Sattar said the issue of code of conduct is still pending with the Supreme Court and it is still under consideration as to the range of restrictions the ECP can apply on the political parties.
"The code of conduct should be realistic and practical to ensure free and fair elections across the country," he said.
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